


Amplified

by thechosenthree



Category: Back to the Future (Movies), Back to the Future: The Game
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Enemies, M/M, Mammett, selective mutism Marty, superhero au, transboy Marty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-18 23:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8179355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thechosenthree/pseuds/thechosenthree
Summary: Marty hasn't spoken in years, afraid of his own voice. Doc's obsession with time reaches a new level. When danger pops up in Hill Valley in the form of a mysterious hooded figure, Marty and Doc will have to navigate a changing relationship, life or death situations, and dark secrets. What will they see when the dust finally settles?





	1. Origin

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first publicly shared fic, so if you have any critiques or suggestions please feel free! Thanks for reading!

Of course there was a key under the doormat. Marty rolled his eyes at how easy this was going to be and ignored the shaking in his hands. He unlocked the door and pushed it open gently. He entered the garage. 

The first thing Marty noticed when he walked in was that it looked not only like someone had been living there, but that a major slob had had been living there. Fast food trash was scattered on every surface. Weird machine parts covered the rest of the available space. Marty stepped fully inside and picked up a diagram sitting on an end table beside the door. The handwriting was surprisingly precise and neat, describing some kind of process for increasing fuel efficiency. He put it back among the mess as carefully as possible.

The second thing Marty noticed was the flickering light. Through an open door at the far side of the huge room, bright white light was flashing sporadically. If Marty didn’t know any better, it looked like sparks. All the rumors about Doctor Brown’s mad scientist tendencies swirled through his head and he hoped he wouldn’t be running into any experiments gone wrong. He wondered what kind of proof Needles and his gang would want from this place. I should just go, he thought, grab that paper by the door and get out of here before I get in too deep. 

The third thing Marty noticed was a loud crashing sound, accompanied by even louder swearing and an extra bright flash of light from the room. Marty rushed forward, tripping over several things on his way to the door. He couldn’t just leave if the guy was in trouble or catching something on fire right? He’d come to break into the place, not kill some old man. He skidded to a halt in front of the doorway. He leaned into the room and saw an older man stretched as far as he could go over the top of a weirdly modified car. The man Marty assumed was Doctor Brown stood on his toes and had his arm down through the roof of the car. His eyes were closed and he was breathing unsteadily. 

Marty took a step back, not sure what to do, and knocked over a precariously stacked pile of papers behind him. The old man’s eyes immediately opened and found him. Contrary to what Marty had expected, the man’s expression was intensely relieved. “You! Please, can you give me a hand with this?” He used his other arm to beckon Marty over. “I uh, may have miscalculated a few things so that if I happen to say, drop the convertor, the consequences may be catastrophic.”

The old man’s face was pleading and Marty didn’t give himself time to change his mind. He walked closer and nodded to make sure the man saw him agree. The sparks, emitted from underneath the car, cast a pale glow on both of them. Marty could see the lights sizzling on the old man’s socks. Doctor Brown let out a sigh of relief and started giving Marty instructions. “There’s a screwdriver over on the workbench, can you get it for me? The flathead! Okay, now I need you to get in the car and remove the top panel be very careful in there! The batteries are still overcharged!”

Marty carefully lowered the panel and saw that the roof was also open and he could see the man’s hand barely hanging onto an awkwardly shaped rod. “Are you good?” He hears the man say. “I need you take the rod from me as soon as you’re ready!”

Marty lifts his hands to the object. He puts one hand close enough to make sure the man knows that Marty has it. He tugs slightly. The man doesn’t let go and quickly adds, “It’s a lead compound so it is incredibly heavy, don’t let it fall to the ground.”

Marty tugs again as confirmation and the man lets go. Shit he wasn’t kidding! Marty thinks as he almost drops the damn thing onto the battery panel. He clutches it to his chest for a better grip. The old man slides off the car and crouches. He smiles broadly at Marty and says, “Thank you so much young man, you’ve just saved the whole block from going up.” He reaches to take the rod from Marty and carries it- more easily than Marty thought he’d be able to- over to a cluttered table where he sits it down gently. 

The man then shouts and rushes to the source of the flickering light that Marty noticed earlier. An exposed wire is sticking out from under the car and the old man quickly wraps it in many layers of electrical tape. Satisfied with his work, he goes over and flips the breaker, causing the lights in the house to turn on and Marty to be momentarily blinded. When he opens his eyes again the old man is standing in front of him, offering his hand. Marty took it and was pulled to his feet, only then realizing just how damn tall this guy was. 

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Doctor Emmett L Brown, professional scientist,” He said, changing grips on Marty’s hand to shake it heartily. “I’m grateful enough for your assistance that I won’t ask what you were doing in here, but I would like to ask your name.” He winks at Marty, who flushes. 

When Marty grimaces and doesn’t respond Doctor Brown frowns. “I’m not going to get you in trouble, you have my word.”

Marty takes his hand back from the wild haired Doctor and signs his name, not really expecting the man to get it. He pauses for a moment when he finishes and sighs at the confusion on Doctor Brown’s face. He’s just about to mime for a pen and paper when Doc’s face lights up. “Marty!” He says, beaming. “Right? Your name is Marty?”

He clumsily and slowly signs his question and Marty stares in amazement. ‘you know sign language?’ he signs. 

Doctor Brown shrugs. He signed slower than he spoke, but he still did his best to supplement his spoken words. “I studied it for a while. I definitely need a refresher.”

Marty asks for a pen. Doctor Brown digs one out of his pocket and grabs a random piece of paper off the floor to hand him. 

I know you didn’t ask, but I do kind of feel like I should explain why I’m here. Sorry about breaking in by the way, but your key was also super easy to find. He wrote, and then proceeded to explain about Needles and the challenge and everything. Doctor Brown read the whole thing thoughtfully. 

“Well, Marty,” He sighed, “It remains that I can’t allow you to take anything to show him as proof.”

Marty shrugs, he understood that. Then Doctor Brown continues, “But I think I can do you one better. As you just saw, I obviously need an extra pair of honest hands around here, and Einstein could do with some more company.” Marty just stared, confused. “Why don’t we go get some food and discuss the possibility of me hiring you part time as my assistant. You’ve proven yourself to be capable, and that ought to show them you’re not to be trifled with.”

They walked down to the Burger King, since Doctor Brown’s car was currently indisposed at the moment. Marty started using Doc as shorthand for his name, since it was much easier to sign. “Doc” laughed when he noticed but said he liked it. They came to a proper agreement and Doc handed over his phone number with instructions for Marty to call after he’d talked to his parents. Marty rode his skateboard home, practically glowing. He’d never expected breaking and entering could end up with him feeling this good about his future. He never expected to run into somebody who, when they found out he didn’t talk, didn’t immediately ask why. 

Over the next month, the two of them worked out a routine. They spent the rest of the year falling into it. Marty learned what he could touch and what he should stay away from at all costs. He would come over after school for a few hours on most days, walk Einstein, get anything flammable away from Doc’s workspace, do some other chores, and do whatever he could to help Doc with the experiment. It was comfortable, he got a few dollars a week, and he grew to like the crazy old scientist. Doc came to rely on him, and he still never asked why Marty didn’t speak. 

The next year they fell out of routine. Marty starting skipping Mondays and spending most Saturdays at Doc’s. Doc went walking with him and Einstein (For my health Marty!). They started eating together instead of separately. They took turns at board games in between adjustments to his experiments, and Doc helped him with his homework. Doc came to Marty’s house for dinner a couple times in the summer, and Marty started calling Doc his friend. It was fun, and natural, and there didn’t seem like any good reason why they shouldn’t keep doing it. 

Strickland caught wind of the arrangement and put more pressure on Marty. He had something against Doc, but Marty could never figure out what it was exactly, other than his eccentricity. Strickland wasn’t the only one giving Marty hell though, since Needles and his crew had a whole new angle to work for torturing Marty. Confrontations outside the school became a regular occurrence. “It’s been years, man. Old man dick the only thing that an get you to open your mouth huh?” Needles would sneer and his lackeys would laugh. “Gives a whole new meaning to choking the chicken, right boys?” They were relentless regarding his relationship with the older man, and it always got to him, perhaps because he was well aware his admiration for the older man could be taken the wrong way.

Even Jennifer got distant for a while, after she voiced her concern about Marty’s safety and Marty snapped at her. But within a couple weeks she was back and helping Marty defend himself with as much energy as she always had. Marty thought maybe he’d imagined her withdrawal. She still held Doc to a higher standard than Marty thought was reasonable, always asking if Doc was being cool about Marty’s dressing habits and unwillingness to speak. Marty always reassured her, consistently amazed himself. He brought it up to Doc one day, asking why Doc never said anything about it. “Well, Marty,” Doc had said, “I suppose I merely expected you to tell me yourself if you ever wanted to. And you’ve been kind enough to not proliferate the rumors I know go around town about me, so it seems only fair to return the favor in some way if I can.” Marty hadn’t told him why then, but had thanked him, and his fondness for the old man grew. 

Once his parents adjusted to the idea of Marty and Doc being friends, they started invited Doc over for family gatherings. Marty certainly helped this decision when he explained how Doc had no family anywhere nearby and how sad he was to leave Doc alone when they had plenty of room at the dinner table. Especially considering that they had learned that Uncle Joey hadn’t made parole again!  
Doc became a regular feature to the point that no one even thought to invite him to the Christmas party that year. They all just assumed he would show up, like the rest of the relatives. Marty had to run over to Doc’s place and drag him over when that didn’t happen. His loud, bright (it had real lightbulbs for Rudolph’s nose) Christmas sweater caused a stir with the McFlys. Marty couldn’t quit blushing and smiling at Doc, he looked so ridiculous, and made a point to keep him out from under the mistletoe (he was beginning to realize that the others maybe weren’t so far off regarding his feelings for Doc). Lorraine also couldn’t keep her eyes off of him, but for a different reason. She kept the fire extinguisher in an easy to reach place. 

When the Halloween after Marty’s seventeenth birthday rolled around, he was amazed by how happy he felt. The cool fall air tousled his hair, and he walked casually around the square with Jennifer, going to each of the little Halloween activity booths that had been set up in front of the businesses and in the green space. “I can’t believe you, Marty,” Jennifer said, sighing. “How did you even think that was going to be ‘close enough’?” 

Jennifer was referring to Marty’s costume. It was supposed to be Robin, but due to both lack of foresight and general laziness on Marty’s part, it had ended up looking a little more like the Riddler’s obnoxious little cousin who wore too many layers. Marty just shrugged. “It was the best I could do on short notice!” He signed. 

Jennifer rolled her eyes behind the batwoman mask. “Short notice, right. I told you we should match costumes back in August!”

Marty grinned at her, then started scouting out their next target. The movie theatre was giving out popcorn, but then again, Bank of America had those caramel sucker things that Jennifer couldn’t get enough of. He pointed to Bank of America and then at the theatre. “Sure,” Jen said. “Let’s do BofA first. They always run out of those things.”

On the way over Marty told her about his plans to go over to Doc’s place for dinner after they left the square. “I told him we should try and make s'mores with whatever I bring over candy-wise, but he wouldn’t buy it,” Marty laughed. “Said something about how it could ruin s'mores for him forever.”

“That man, I swear. What’s that supposed to mean?” Jennifer asked.

Marty shook his head. “I have no idea, but I guarantee you by the time I get over there he’ll have a chart drawn up to see what kind of candy would hold heat better for melting the marshmallows.” 

Jennifer snorted, agreeing with Marty. She hadn’t interacted with Doc much, but she had heard enough stories about him to believe it. She could see why Marty like him. “He still hasn’t asked, has he?” She said.

A sigh. “No, he hasn’t. I finally broke down and told him about the other thing though. I guess everyone goes on about how I’m lying to them, and I just didn’t want to do that to him.”

“How’d he take it?”

“Surprisingly well, actually. I didn’t think he’d be as bad as the others, but he didn’t even ask me any questions. Just said, ‘That’s fine, Marty. Of course I have never doubted the veracity of your claim to boyhood.” Marty chuckled. “Then he just asked me to hand him the wrench like it was nothing. Here I was, expecting this heavy conversation.” Guess I should be glad that’s the only time he’s let me down, Marty thought. 

They got in line in front of the booth. Marty suddenly glares at Jenn. “Hey, speaking of heavy conversations, you still haven’t told me who you’ve been seeing!”

Jennifer blushes. “All in good time, Marty. I’m not even sure if there’s anything to tell yet honestly.” She takes a step forward in line. 

“Ah come on, Jen, just tell me,” he complains, but they reach the front of the line before he can press her any further. 

As the person in charge of candy hands over some of the caramels, someone catches Marty’s eye. A tall man in a black cloak and white mask strode purposefully past the table and into the bank. Something about the way he carried himself seemed painfully familiar to Marty, and he found himself leaving the line to follow the man. He caught the door and slipped inside, turning back to tell Jennifer to wait outside for him. When he turns around to look for the man again, he sees a swift movement by the counter and then hears a gunshot. 

Everything is plunged into chaos. The few people in the bank, fewer than ten, screamed and dropped to the ground. The security guard approached the man in the cloak with one hand on his baton and one hand held out in a plea to get the man to surrender. Marty was frozen by the door. His heart felt like it had stopped, and all he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears. The man pointed his gun directly at the security guard. Then for the first time in two years, someone else heard Marty’s voice. “Stop!” He called out, right as the man pulls the trigger, and everything stops. 

A hush falls over the bank, in stark contrast to the pandemonium of just a moment ago. Marty lets out a shaky breath, confused. The man in the mask seems to be the only one still breathing. He lowers his gun and turns his head excruciatingly slowly towards Marty. The rest of his body follows, until he’s facing Marty fully, the gun by his side. Even from a distance he seemed to tower over Marty, silent and menacing. He took a few steps towards Marty, his hand shaking as if he couldn’t decide whether to use his weapon or just try to chase Marty out. 

Marty swallowed. “P-put the gun down,” he choked out, voice rough from disuse.

The man froze again. He bent slightly, then all of his muscles tensed and he fought against the order. As he lowered himself further, he never once took his eyes off of Marty. A chill went down Marty’s spine. The man finally placed the gun on the floor. Then, after a heartbeat, faster than Marty could have anticipated, the gun was in his hand again, pointed towards Marty. A shot rang out, and Marty flung himself to the side, ending up behind a flimsy cardboard advertisement. 

Noise flooded the building and everyone started moving again all at once. Marty scrambled out from behind the sign only to the pushed out of the door by the other patrons as they fled. There was no sign of the hooded man. Jennifer caught Marty by the arm as he was herded past and drug him out of the flow. Marty flailed for a moment and then recognized her. He gestured over to the car that his parents had let him borrow and they ran over, Jennifer sliding into the passenger seat and Marty into the driver’s. “Holy shit, Jennifer that was heavy,” he signed before putting the car in gear and pulling out of the parking spot, hoping for some time to figure out what to tell her as he drove.


	2. Mixed Messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys have some trouble communicating, what happens next will warm your heart.

They stopped at Jennifer’s place first and she made him explain everything that had happened. He told her about the man with the gun and about getting shot at but then hesitated. “Jennifer, I’ve got to go talk to Doc,” he said. 

Jennifer was wide eyed, but managed to keep calm. “Yeah, okay, sure,” She stopped Marty from running his hand through his hair yet again. “You should go see your parents first, in case they hear something on the news and start to worry.”

Right as she said that, her father burst out of their house and ran towards his car. Jennifer opened the car door and called out to him. His relief was apparent. Jennifer said goodbye to Marty and then ran over to her dad. “We’ll talk tomorrow!” She said, calling over her shoulder. 

Marty did go home first, but his mind was racing the whole time. When it was just him who was the freak, it was fine. He was a freak. But now there was a guy who could what? Stop time? Freeze people in place? He had to tell Doc. He could hardly believe he’d waited this long now that he thought about it. After all, the one thing that scared him about opening up to Doc, other than the risk of accidentally mind controlling him, had been that his voice might not exactly have sounded like a guy’s, and he had that conversation with Doc last week! 

He didn’t get out of the house as quickly as he’d wanted to, because despite his parents’ relief that he was alright, they still were trying to drag words out of him for a verbal explanation. Marty just couldn’t do that. If he’d waited this long to talk to Doc, who he’d grown to trust more than just about anyone besides Jennifer, he sure as hell wasn’t going to speak out loud to his parents no matter how well they meant. 

The sun was setting by the time he skidded away on his skateboard, an hour past the time he’d meant to be at Doc’s for dinner. His heart was pounding nearly as much as it had been in the bank. He kicked his board up and walked to Doc’s door. He reached under the mat for the key, unlocked the door, and pushed it open, years of practice making his movements easy. Most of the lights were down and there was a burnt smell in the air. When Marty looked around he saw Doc hunched over the table in the corner where the kitchen stuff lived, muttering furiously and scribbling notes. 

Marty knocked on the inside of the door and waved to get his attention as Einstein bounded up to say hello. Doc jumped out of his seat, quickly shuffling his papers. Marty scratched Einstein behind the ears and pushed the big dog off of his chest. He tried to smile at Doc, but his exhaustion still showed. Doc quit staring and went to him, placing his hands on Marty’s shoulders. He squeezed comfortingly. “Marty, what’s the matter? I wasn’t sure if you were still coming,” he said, exhaustion clear on his face as well. 

Marty sighed in frustration, and tried to steady his hands for what he had to say. Doc’s name was on his lips. “Doc, I… I need you,” he signed, letting Doc’s name slip quietly off his tongue. “Doc, please this is heavy, and I need you right now.”

Doc took a step back, his face a mask of confusion. “Marty, what are you saying?” 

Marty clenched his eyes shut and kept signing. “You’re the only one, Doc…” A hesitant pause, and he opened his eyes to see Doc moving closer. His chest was pounding. “You’re the only one who might be able to get this…” Doc’s hand reached out and cupped Marty’s cheek. His eyes were wide. “I can’t stand waiting to tell you.”

“Marty, are you sure?” Now that he was closer Marty could see that Doc’s eyes were red. He swayed slightly as he peered down at Marty.

Something seemed off, but Marty nodded. Yeah, something seemed really off, especially since Doc kept getting closer. He froze and closed his eyes again as he felt Doc’s lips press against his. Whatever coherence remained in his mind fled at that instant. For one heartbeat, two, three, neither of them moved. Then Doc stiffened abruptly. “Marty, I, I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me,” he stuttered. 

Marty just watched Doc straighten up in amazement and ran a hand through his hair. It was almost too much to process on top of everything else that had happened today. “I’m so sorry, Marty, I don’t know what made me think that was an appropriate action,” Doc was still babbling and a burst of laughter broke out of Marty. 

Doc’s mouth snapped shut. Marty clapped a hand over his own mouth. They made eye contact. Marty took his hand away from his mouth to reveal a wide grin, and he grabbed Doc’s collar and pulled him back down for a deeper kiss. Doc squawked in protest, but quickly regained his balance and wrapped both arms around Marty, trying to alleviate the awkwardness of their height difference. This time it was Marty who pulled away, feeling far more clear headed than he had when he’d arrived. 

Doc’s face was just as confused as before, his eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth open slightly. “Doc,” Marty stepped back so he could sign easier, “You don’t know how long I’ve been hoping you would do that.”

There was no way Doc could have anticipated that kind of response. He turned sharply to face away from Marty, muttering to himself, and then just as sharply turned back to Marty, some of his energy restored. “Marty, are you completely serious about this? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Marty rolled his eyes. “I mean, that’s not why I came over, but yeah,” he huffed. “I’m sorry if that’s awkward for you but dammit, that’s one secret I’m not going to keep anymore.” His hands moved swiftly and with authority, as if he was afraid Doc would interrupt him. “I’ve got it bad, Doc.”

Doc grabbed Marty’s hands. “Marty…” Marty had never seen Doc at such a loss for words. “Marty, I won’t say I haven’t thought about this before.” His thumb stroked the back of Marty’s hand gently. “I won’t say that I don’t have strong feelings for you.” He squeezed Marty’s hands. “But we need to talk about this more reasonably than I am capable of at the moment. Can you come by tomorrow and discuss it further?”

Marty pulled his hands away. “Of course,” he signed. “No problem, Doc.”

He took a step back. “Hey, are we good? Forget whatever happens tomorrow, you’re not going to cut me out are you?”

He could tell that he’d struck a nerve in Doc. “Marty! How can you say such a thing? You’re an invaluable part of my life. I refuse to allow something as trivial as this come between our friendship,” Doc said. 

Relief washed over Marty, and he backed away further towards the door, waving at Doc before pulling it open and stepping out into the night, realizing he hadn’t had a chance to bring up the real problem. He sighed. No way could he go back and lay this on him too. He shook his head and started walking. It would have to wait for another day. He slept more soundly than he thought he would even after everything that happened that day. Doc didn’t sleep until morning.

The other students near Marty’s desk jumped when Jennifer turned around and smacked his desk. Marty jumped too, nearly smacking himself in the face. Jennifer leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “What happened? Did he know anything about the guy?” 

Marty took a deep breath and collected himself. He shrugged, face flushing, remembering why he hadn’t actually brought it up with Doc. “Well, uh, I kind of got sidetracked.” He still needed to talk to someone, and Jennifer was right here in front of him, easy and uncomplicated. “Jennifer, I need to tell you about something, and it’s pretty heavy.”

They sat outside together after school. Jennifer was focused, rolling the new information over in her mind. Marty watched her anxiously. He tapped his fingers on his leg and huffed. “That makes so much sense.” 

Marty freezes. Jennifer repeats herself, “That explains so much. No wonder Needles has it out for you so bad,” she laughed in amazement. “I can’t believe you got him to literally eat shit! Of course you’d quit talking after that.”

Marty just stared in disbelief. Jennifer shook her head. “You can control people with your voice. Marty, you were right, this is really heavy. Is your voice related at all to the guy from the bank?”

A shrug. He was surprised she had believed him so easily but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Jennifer…” Marty signed, more hesitant now than before. “There’s something else.”

“Something else?” She quit laughing. “What else could there be?”

Marty’s face got red again. “Well, you remember how I kinda said I got sidetracked?” Jennifer nodded. “Well, I uh, I mean, me and Doc may have kissed.”

Jennifer didn’t react. 

Marty signed again to drive the point home, “Doc kissed me! I kissed him! Come on, Jen, say something here.”

Jennifer put a hand on her forehead. She took a deep steadying breath. “Marty… that’s crazy. Are you okay? Do we need to tell someone? I… I can’t believe he’d do that.”

Marty shook his head and struggled to find the words for a second. “No, you don’t need to tell anyone. I’m freaked, but I think it’s okay? Doc thought I’d asked him to and we were both way out of it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not gonna lie, Jen, I wanted him to. I hate that people say all that shit about us but… I think I want it to be true.”

Jennifer’s face softened and she touched his shoulder. “Are you sure? This is really strange, Marty, all of it. Doc doesn’t get to take advantage of you.” 

“I’m actually going back over there today,” Marty added before Jennifer could protest, “Doc wanted to have a ‘conversation’ about things. Believe me, he’s not going to make me do anything I’m not okay with.” He considers briefly. “Well, outside of the science stuff anyway.” 

That got Jennifer to grin slightly, although she still looked concerned. “I’m just a phone call away if you need a sidekick.” 

They reluctantly said goodbye when Jennifer’s dad pulled up. She gave Marty a quick hug and ran off to the car. Marty straightened his jacket, sighed, and threw down his skateboard. He usually went over to Doc’s place first so his parents wouldn’t think much of it, but Marty needed a little more time to prepare before facing the issues at hand. Home he went.

He entered the garage a few hours later, palms sweaty and heart racing. He heard a crash from the bathroom and then muffled cursing. Marty just sat at the kitchen table to wait, too nervous now to seek Doc out more than he had. Doc emerged from the bathroom moments later, wiping his hands off with a towel. He caught sight of Marty and froze. He took a step towards Marty, stopped, took a step towards his workbench, stopped. Finally, he moved decisively towards the kitchen table. 

Doc eased into the seat across form Marty. Marty had never seen him look so hesitant. It was as if he was afraid of scaring Marty away. He placed his hands flat on the table and stared at them. He was obviously still worn out. “Marty before you say anything, I want you to know that I have no expectations of you and I am deeply sorry if I overstepped my boundaries last night,” he looked up, “I won’t make excuses, Marty, it was a mistake on my part.”

A firm “stop” sign from Marty cut him off. “No, Doc. It wasn’t a mistake,” he said. “Doc, I’ve wanted you to kiss me since Christmas at least!”

Doc’s brow furrowed and his jaw worked. Marty continued before he had a chance to say anything. “I mean, I figured if I said anything you’d think I was a freak or something,” He frowned before continuing. “So, I’m glad you did it, because now we can talk, and maybe this a mutual thing, huh?”

The amazement on Doc’s face mirrored Marty’s hopefulness. He shook himself. “Marty,” he said. “Forget the general attitude towards homosexuality, how could a man of my age be involved with you in good conscious? The effects it could have on your future…” He trailed off. 

Marty’s heart fluttered when he realized Doc had just called them gay. “Doc, you’ve never given me any reason not to trust you.” His hands cramped from the severity of his words, so he shook them out. “I’m up for it. It’s heavy but I’m up for it, Doc.”

A smile spread slowly across Doc’s face. He reached over the table and rested a hand on Marty’s arm. “Marty, I assure you your feelings are returned. The risks to myself are acceptable, I just don’t want you to ever feel pressured into this, just because of our friendship.” 

Marty laughed at that, appreciating the irony. Out of the two of them, he was the least likely to be pressured into something. “No worries there, Doc,” he said simply. 

Doc stood abruptly, his exhaustion less apparent. “If we’re going to do this, Marty,” He held up a finger. “Then I want you to come into this totally informed.” Marty silently agreed, preparing himself to tell Doc what he meant to last night. 

Doc bounded over to the tall black cabinet that he always kept locked. He fumbled with his key-ring until he found the proper one, and Marty watched him in amusement. There was a knock at the door. Doc dropped his key ring, and Marty kicked the table. Doc made eye contact with Marty, who shrugged but stood and went to the door. He pulled it open slightly to find Jennifer standing there with her arms crossed. He pulled the door shut quickly and huffed before reopening it far enough to step outside. 

“Jennifer what are you doing here?” he signed, making sure his irritation came across. 

She shrugged and smiled. “Wanted to make sure you didn’t need any backup. Also wanted to drop this off with you for approval.” She handed over the folder she was holding. 

Marty opened it and immediately shut it when he saw what was inside. He shook his head vigorously, handing it back to her. “Jennifer I don’t have any interest in being a superhero. I’m not your guy, that’s police business,” he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Anyway I don’t feel right talking to people. Even if they are bad guys.”

Jennifer sighed, but held the folder back out to him. “Just take it. I’ve got another copy at home. Think it over!” She shook it at him until he took it reluctantly. “I’m out of here, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She winked and walked off. 

Marty went back inside the garage to find Doc clicking the padlock back onto the tall black cabinet. Doc shot him a smile, but it lacked the energy from before. “Everything all right, Marty?” he asked. 

Marty nodded, the folder heavy in his hands. No way was he going to explain this to Doc now. Not if Jennifer was trying to push him into vigilantism. He couldn’t speak to any of them. He’d have to make sure Jennifer knew that his voice was not something he would ever use willingly. And there was no telling how Doc would react. He’d probably ask Marty to speak for some kind of experiment, and Marty wouldn’t be able to say no. “Yeah, everything is fine. But I should probably get home and work on my homework.” Meaning he’d better get back and find a place to hide that folder.

Doc closed the difference between them and wrapped Marty in a hug. “Thank you for coming over to talk, Marty. You know you’re free to change your mind at any point in time.” He pulled back to give Marty space to sign. 

“Of course, Doc. You too,” he signed, then stood up on tiptoe and pulled Doc down to give him a quick kiss.

Doc grinned, his eyebrows nearly up to his hairline. “I’ll see you later, okay Doc?” Marty said, the warmth spreading in chest soothing his anxiety over the costume design.

Doc nodded and straightened, pushing Marty towards the door. “Yes, yes, of course Marty. Now you go get your work done, and I’ll do some of my own.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this part out of the way fast and establish their relationship for reasons, so here you go.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone wants me to make changes to the way I've handled Marty's dialogue please let me know! I will always indicate when Marty is speaking out loud. All of his other dialogue is in sign language.


End file.
